Upstairs are a group of three Bhutas, part supernatural mask, part evil-eye charm, made using black yarns reclaimed from Kantha quilts. They combine sections of tightly compact weave with long fringes of black jute fibre, which is traditionally used in the making of clay idols of Hindu deities that are often crafted by Muslim artisans in rural West Bengal. Sayan has said: ‘I have always been drawn to masks because they are a bridge between what we don’t understand and what is real.’

Along the wall are groupings of ceramic sculptures that function as relics, combining references to shrines, idols and ritual objects such as crowns or ceremonial lamps, each glazed with a metallic glaze that recalls Ashtadhatu, an alloy of eight different metals used to make divine idols in Jain and Hindu temples: ‘I want these pieces to have the duality of modest clay as the core and a precious exterior much like deities or religious objects in shrines.’

Two new handwoven tapestries Who Dwells Within Trees and All the Boons You Want, and a new garland tapestry, both of which use reclaimed, dyed fabric from Kantha quilts, introduce notes of colour that are familiar across Sayan’s body of work: ‘The reds are from vermillion powder, yellows from turmeric, blacks and greys are from clay and ash from the Ganga. I also refer to colour associations in folk narrative like black and blue for the goddesses of snakes or charms to ward off the evil eye…’

Close by, Neither Land Not Water comprises a group of freestanding ceramic objects that reference pneumatophores, or aerial roots, of mangrove trees found in the Sundarban, which lies in the Ganges Delta in Bengal, a region that has experienced humanitarian and cultural crises, and faces on-going ecological challenges.

Sayan has included a series of charcoal drawings in the downstairs space that he made while on a Thread residency in Senegal.